Survival Of James Potter

Christmas

Hi, I hope you all enjoyed the last few chapters! This is one of my favorite chapters that my friend wrote so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  Thanks for reading we really appreciate it :) 

Christmas Eve crept up fast. With so many people in the house, and a lot of rooms, the house was decorated in a few days, with groups each tackling a different room. The tree stood loud and proud in the kitchen, with a bauble that represented everyone in the house for that Christmas.

James was incredibly proud of his, a pure black ball with a gleaming silver stag, and was happy to see that Sirius and Remus had gone with their Marauder forms in sliver on a black ball. Harry's was emerald green, to match his eyes, with a red lightning bolt through a golden snitch, Hermione's had book shelves going all the way round and Ron's was one of Christmas lunch. Each was so different from the last, you could always tell whose was whose, except maybe Fred and Georges, which were as identical as them.

On Christmas Eve the crew gathered by the fire in the front room, to listen to old Christmas stories. Hermione went first, opting to tell an old muggle classic, 'The night before Christmas'. Every listened with such intent that no one, not even Ron, interrupted with a silly question about something in the book. Everyone took it in turns to tell a story, ending the night with a tale from the Marauders about a Christmas they spent at James's during seventh year.

"It was so funny!" Sirius started, "James and Lily had just started going out, so of course, she was there to. We started talking about playing a Christmas prank on Peter, as he was always a bit of a dim whit and had the best reactions when he wasn't in on the prank"

"And we spent the entire week planning it" James continued

"And Lily didn't want us to because she didn't want James to get in trouble and he almost backed out"

"Emphasis on almost there"

"So we decided we would scare him in the morning as it so funny!! We made this plan that we would give him a present that would explode or something and we gave it to him Christmas morning."

"It was hilarious! The thing exploded in his hand, and it scared him so much that he actually transformed!!! I laughed so hard I cried"

"He got his own back though" Remus piped up, "Bit you both before turning back if I remember rightly. Then it was you who was screaming like a girl"

"Now that I would pay to see," Harry said, shouting over the laughter of Fred and George, who had enjoyed a story from their heroes. Molly seemed to have noticed.

"Don't go getting any ideas, boys," She told them sternly, "If I hear you've been sending exploding presents, I swear to god, you won't make it to next Christmas"

The laughter died down, and the room fell silent. The chime from the clock in the hall said it was eleven.

"I think it's time for bed" James announced, everyone nodded in agreement and dispersed into their various rooms. James lingered behind with Remus and Sirius.

"I don't remember the last time we spent Christmas together," James said after everyone had left.

"I do" Sirius said, "It was the year Harry was born. We all went to yours cuz you had only been home a few months with harry and you couldn't come out and get drunk. It was our first sober Christmas"

"Oh yeh. We'll have to change that this year then. The first Christmas we've spent together in 14 years and we are going to have fun, and when Harry is 17, he can join in with us because even though I like to have fun, I still have to be the responsible parent."